Thursday, May 24, 2007

It's just about a month away, but if you are in Virginia and you plan on attending the Shenandoah University Children's Literature Festival, come by and say "Hi". I'm speaking and signing, but I don't know the schedule yet. I do know that I will be there on Thursday June 28th, though.

Friday, May 18, 2007

Do you want to own this painting inspired by Punk Farm on Tour? Well you can! That is if you are going to this year's BookExpo America conference in NYC on June 1st and you're the highest bidder on it at the ABC Annual Secret Garden Silent Auction.The ABC is this great organization that provides support for independent children's booksellers, a worthy cause indeed!

And if you are at BEA, be sure to stop by the Random House booth at 2PM on Friday June 1st and you will be able to get your hands on a signed copy of Punk Farm on Tour - 5 months before it's official release date!!!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Last Friday I was on my way to a Sox game at Fenway. So already, my day was awesome. But then , on my way out the door I decided to check my e-mail one last time.

And then my day got even better! A representative of the Abilene, TX school system wrote. They have an award for picture books called The Mockingbird Award and Punk Farm won this year! The award is this really cool sculpture. And even cooler is that the kids are given a selection of books to choose from and they voted for Punk Farm.

I am so excited and so grateful to all the kids for reading and voting and to all the educators who facilitated the award program. The statue will be placed in my new studio with pride!

Just last week I taped a segment with Sarah of ReadBoston TV. The episode should be available online soon. ReadBoston TV is a show that is a part of Mayor Menino's Read Boston, a program that supports literacy for Boston's youth.

Another exciting component is that every year, Mayor Menino and a panel of officials select a book for "ReadBoston's Best Read Aloud Book of the Year Award". Books are nominated and then read aloud by educators to the panel. (Kind of like an American Idol for picture books.) The panel votes and this year...(drum roll please)... My Buddy, Slug won! How cool?!

This summer, at one of their Book Mobile events, I will be presented the award by Mayor Menino himself! And in a few weeks, I'll be at the Boston Public Library to speak to and thank the many educators and community members who work in the after school component of this very special literacy program.

Wow, this event completely snuck up on me. I forgot to mention this earlier, but tomorrow I will be signing at the New Art Center book festival. It starts at 2 and goes until about 5. The exhibit there is about to come down, so if you have time tomorrow and you live near Newton, come by and say hi! newartcenter.org

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

I have been making the rounds as of late, visiting schools to read my books and share my school visit slide show. It always blows me away when the schools go above and beyond the call of duty to welcome me. Aren't these incredible? I'll post more soon.

I just put down Aaron Renier's Spiral-Bound and I have to tell you - it is INCREDIBLE! I stumbled upon it on the Top Shelf Comics website a few weeks back and made a blind purchase. I'm glad I did. This book is smart, funny and charming. In a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, our hero Turnip (an insecure elephant) lives in a small community that fears the monster suspected to live in the lake. Aaron Reiner gives us an animal indie band, a sculpture studio run by a whale and secret underground passageways that would make the Fraggles envious.

The pacing is pitch-perfect, I found that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. And the design is outstanding.The book itself is even made to look like the spiral bound notebook that Ana (a head strong bunny) carries around. For those librarians out there who are starting to build their graphic novel collections, this is one all ages will appreciate.

This is Aaron's first book and I will now wait patiently to see what he delivers next!

The cartoons that I watched as a kid definitely fueled my creative spirits. Not thatI value them as something that would be more important than books - that is far from the truth. But all sorts of media opens the creative mind to visual story telling. And as a young kid growing up in the 80's, I had a number of shows that I would list as favorites. I would draw the main characters and make my own comics with these characters. This would then lead to the creation of my own characters and I would make my own books, comics and animations.

From time to time, when I come across something I drew as a kid and if I can find something on YouTube, I'll post them here. But - let me reiterate I still would prefer a kid read a book or make up their own stories or comics!

Like most boys in the 1980's, there was a red and blue robot that I looked up to. His name was Optimus Prime. This one's for you, Optimus....

About JJK

Jarrett J. Krosoczka is the author and/or illustrator of over thirty books for young readers. He can be heard weekly on SiriusXM's Kids Place Live and his TED Talks have accumulated nearly two million views online. Learn more at StudioJJK.com or follow @StudioJJK.